How To Style A Sideboard

I’m talking about how to style up a sideboard and turn it into more than a piece of storage, and into something beautiful in its own right.

THEME

When accessorising and styling something up, whether that’s an outfit or a piece of furniture, it’s always a good plan to pick a theme that pulls it all together. For me, that was metallic accessories in a vintage style, to match the 1960s aesthetic of the sideboard and tie it back into the rest of the room. I’ve chosen gold as the main metallic, with an accent of copper in small doses – I always think mixing metallics looks super luxe.

ACCESSORIES

Accessorising was key to making sure the sideboard looked like a part of our living room, but it’s key to choose simple accessories that don’t clutter up the space or make surfaces look untidy. I chose a sleek gold lamp that makes a statement without being oversized or fussy. I also switch between vases for different plants; a gorgeous gold vase that looks just as good empty as it does filled with flowers, or the ubiquitous white IKEA metal plant pot for my new fern. And there’s another tip – plants make everything look better!

In terms of practicality, I also like to make sure that there’s items I’ll use, as well as items that just look good. So we decided to have the sideboard function as a bit of a bar cart too! To keep things simple, use a tray to keep all of the items together; I picked up a gold round tray from H&M and have stacked our key cocktail paraphernalia on it to keep things looking tidy. So we have copper cocktail mugs, a vintage shaker and gold/silver bar tools too – everything you’d need to make a great cocktail but it looks gorgeous too!

ARTWORK

I think the finishing touch to any room is artwork and styling up a piece of furniture like this is no different. I wanted a print framed on the sideboard and after much deliberation, I went for a really simple, pretty typography print in black and white (of course!). I chose this one from Etsy – it looks cute and it cheers me up every time I look at it.

I also wanted some artwork hanging above the sideboard – it was the biggest, emptiest wall in the house and it really needed something to make a statement while sticking with our key theme of being sleek and simple. In the end, we chose these deep blue prints (to match the feature wall) complete with metallic sun and moon, framed in white so they have big impact against the wall.

So now we have the finished article and I love the way it looks in our living room. It’s easy to change things up t00 – a brightly coloured bouquet or a lush green fern changes the whole aesthetic and I can’t see me getting bored of it at all!